UoH: Hyderabad blues

The shopping complex or “shop-com”, a popular hangout at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), looks strikingly different from what it was a couple of months ago. On a usual day, it is dotted with students photocopying study material or young couples snatching a few moments of togetherness. The place gets deserted at night as Gopal’s shop, more popularly known as Gops, near the women’s hostels was always the meeting place of choice later in the day.

Research scholar Rohith Vemula’s death has transformed the “shop-com” into a hub of protest. The walls are covered with slogans and graffiti decrying Dalit oppression. A stupa erected in memory of Vemula, whose suicide last month triggered widespread protests across the country, shelters under a tent. Scattered groups of students and a handful of watchful cops occupy the complex now.

Twenty-five-year-old Vemula has become an icon of the struggle for Dalit rights in a way that could redefine student politics in India. He was among the five students belonging to the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA) who were suspended for an alleged attack on N Susheel Kumar, president of the UoH unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the BJP-affiliated student body. The suspended youngsters moved to a makeshift shelter at the shopping complex and continued their protest against the university’s action. Vemula’s suicide on January 17 sent the entire country into a shock. His suicide note cited personal reasons and did not blame anybody for his extreme step.

There were allegations that vice-chancellor P Appa Rao had acted against the Dalit students under pressure from the Union Minister of Labour as well as the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Soon, politicians of various hues descended on the campus. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi came twice in 10 days. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury expressed solidarity with the Dalit students and slammed the Narendra Modi government.

Even as the university limps back to normalcy after a shutdown for two weeks, the episode has made a lasting impact on the campus community’s thinking on key issues pertaining to the Dalits as well as agitations and politics. Set up in 1974, the UoH has till date seen nine of its Dalit students commit suicide. There have been periodic agitations by students belonging to the community. “But in the 34 years of my service, I have never seen an agitation of this scale, in which the role of the vice-chancellor’s office has been questioned,” says M Periasamy, the current vice-chancellor in-charge.

The Dalit vs non-Dalit divide on the campus is an old one, but had largely remained non-invasive and issue-based. Not any more. Some students are angry that the two-week shutdown has disrupted their academic schedule. “We are upset at the ill-treatment of Vemula and other ASA students. But we can’t lose our academic life beyond a point. Why bring politics into this issue? Can’t we fight for justice as students beyond politics?” asks a postgraduate student who wishes to remain unnamed.

Dalit students, who make up one-fourth of the 5,500-strong campus, see a long and bitter fight ahead. “There is a realisation that brahminical domination cannot go on forever and we have been receiving support from all over,” says V Sunkanna, a friend of Vemula and one of the five debarred students. In fact, ASA members have travelled to all universities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to mobilise support and organised ‘Chalo Delhi’ protests. “This has drawn tremendous response and we will continue the agitation,” he says.

The agitating students are demanding the arrest of Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya for their alleged role in the campus strife. They also want action against Rao for “driving” Vemula to suicide. Their agitation has now shifted to Delhi and found strength in the ongoing stir by JNU students.

Meanwhile, a judicial probe is on to determine the factors that led to the suicide. The past two months have shown that the agitating students have been able to go beyond the campus and successfully position their problem as a national issue. “There is a very good response from students and leaders in Delhi. We want to find a permanent solution to end atrocities against Dalits,” says Seshu, a Dalit student leader, who is in Delhi to mobilise support.

As for the politicisation of the stir, with many parties pulling in different directions, Periasamy agues that it is not necessarily a bad thing. “There will always be political ideologies for youngsters too,” he says, before hastening to add that the politics should be healthy and not driven by party agendas.

After all, as Vemula had put it in his remarkably scholarly suicide note: “politics, a science that tears the soul apart from the body” was not for him.